Business Model Innovation and Firm Performance: The Role of Mediation and Moderation Factors

Business model (BM) innovation is vital for today’s businesses. However, BM innovations can be irreversible, and therefore, in comparison to product, service or process innovation, entail bigger risk and ambiguity. Understanding the way in which BM innovation exerts influences over firm’s performance would help business-owners to be more effective. Based on a systematic literature review, a model to examine how BMI impacts firm performance through mediating and moderating factors was developed. Based on in-depth analysis of 37 articles, we identified twenty moderating factors classified in four groups, i.e., Firm- Characteristics, Industry-Characteristics, BM Implementation, and BM Practices, and ten mediating factors, categorized in three sub-groups, i.e., Revenue Growth, Efficiency Growth, and Enhancing the Organizational Capabilities. This paper offers the grounding for empirical research as well contribute to the development of tools to assess the effectiveness of the BMI

Review on Inteins: Structures, Function, Mechanisms and Their Application in Biotechnology

زمینه و هدف: اینتئین‌ ها عناصر ژنتیکی هستند که نقشی شبیه اینترون ها را از خود نشان می‌دهند. با این تفاوت که علاوه بر رونویسی ترجمه هم می‌شوند. این عناصر در سطح پروتئین از پروتئین میزبان خود جدا شده و پایین دست و بالا دست خود را به یکدیگر متصل می‌کنند‌. هدف از نگارش این مقاله‌ ی مروری در ابتدا آشنایی مختصر با بیوتکنولوژی و کاربردهای آن و سپس آشنایی با عناصر ژنتیکی به نام اینتئین و کاربرد‌های آن در بیوتکنولوژی می ‌باشد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه، مقالات مرتبط با موضوع از پایگاه داده‌ های معتبر خارجی مانند ISI، PubMed و Scopus و همچنین مقالات فارسی نیز از بانک اطلاعاتی ایران مدکس استخراج و مورد استفاده قرار گرفت. یافته‌ ها: اولین بار اینتئین در سال 1990 در مخمر ساکرومایسس سرویزیه مورد شناسایی قرار گرفت. اینتئین‌ها پردازش پروتئین را طی یک پروسه درون مولکولی بدون نیاز به کوفاکتور و منبع انرژی متابولیکی انجام می دهند. اینتئین ‌ها دارای کاربرد زیادی در بیوتکنولوژی از جمله ایجاد پروتئین‌ های حلقوی به منظور تولید کتابخانه ‌های بزرگ ژنی و تخلیص سریع پروتئین ‌ها می ‌باشد. نتیجه‌گیری: اینتئین ‌ها با توجه به داشتن خاصیت جدا شدن از پروتئین ‌ها و اتصال قسمت ‌های بالا ‌دستی و پایین ‌دستی خود چه به صورت طبیعی چه به صورت مهندسی ‌شده در بسیاری از فناوری‌ های کاربردی ویژه مانند آنزیم ‌شناسی، مهندسی پروتئین، شناسایی هدف، تولیدات ریز آرایه و تخلیص پروتئین ‌های نوترکیب کاربرد دارند

The effect of iron oxide nanoparticles on liver enzymes (ALT, AST and ALP), thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) and TSH in rats

زمینه و هدف: نانوذرات اکسید آهن به عنوان عنصر ایجاد کننده ی تضاد در رزونانس مغناطیسی هسته (MRI) و همچنین گرمادرمانی سلول های سرطانی استفاده های گسترده ای دارند. با این وجود، اثرات این نانوذرات روی سلامتی انسان هنوز به طور کامل بررسی نشده است. در این تحقیق اثرات نانوذرات اکسید آهن روی سطح سرمی آنزیم های کبدی، هورمون های تیروئیدی و هورمون محرک تیروئید (TSH) در موش های صحرایی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی 28 سر موش صحرایی از نژاد ویستار به چهار گروه تقسیم شدند. گروه های مورد، روزانه به مدت پانزده روز، نانوذرات اکسید آهن را با غلظت های g/kgµ20، g/kgµ50 و g/kgµ150 که در یک میلی لیتر آب مقطر حل شده بود توسط لوله ی گاواژ دریافت کردند. گروه شاهد نیز روزانه یک میلی لیتر آب مقطر دریافت کرد. داده ها با استفاده از آزمون آماری ANOVA و تست Tukey تجزیه و تحلیل شدند. یافته ها: غلظت سرمی آنزیم های آلکالاین فسفاتاز (ALP)، آلانین آمینوتراسفراز (ALT) و هورمون تیروکسین (T4) در گروه دریافت کننده ی دوز g/kgµ150 نسبت به گروه شاهد افزایش معنی داری نشان داد (05/0

Modelling of Queue Length in Freeway Work Zones – Case Study Karaj-Tehran Freeway

In this study, the traffic parameters were collected from three work zones in Iran in order to evaluate the queue length in the work zones. The work zones were observed at peak and non-peak hours. The results showed that abrupt changes in Freeway Free Speed (FFS) and arrival flow rate caused shockwaves and created a bottleneck in that section of the freeway. In addition, acceleration reduction, abrupt change in the shockwave speed, abrupt change in the arrival flow rate and increase in the percentage of heavy vehicles have led to extreme queue lengths and delay. It has been found that using daily traffic data for scheduling the maintenance and rehabilitation projects could diminish the queue length and delay. Also, by determining the bypass for heavy vehicles, the delay can be significantly reduced; by more than three times. Finally, three models have been presented for estimating the queue length in freeway work zones. Moreover, the procedure shown for creating a queue length model can be used for similar freeways

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017 : results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Correction:Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national burden of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are increasingly recognised as global health priorities in view of the preventability of most injuries and the complex and expensive medical care they necessitate. We aimed to measure the incidence, prevalence, and years of life lived with disability (YLDs) for TBI and SCI from all causes of injury in every country, to describe how these measures have changed between 1990 and 2016, and to estimate the proportion of TBI and SCI cases caused by different types of injury. METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2016 to measure the global, regional, and national burden of TBI and SCI by age and sex. We measured the incidence and prevalence of all causes of injury requiring medical care in inpatient and outpatient records, literature studies, and survey data. By use of clinical record data, we estimated the proportion of each cause of injury that required medical care that would result in TBI or SCI being considered as the nature of injury. We used literature studies to establish standardised mortality ratios and applied differential equations to convert incidence to prevalence of long-term disability. Finally, we applied GBD disability weights to calculate YLDs. We used a Bayesian meta-regression tool for epidemiological modelling, used cause-specific mortality rates for non-fatal estimation, and adjusted our results for disability experienced with comorbid conditions. We also analysed results on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index, a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility. FINDINGS: In 2016, there were 27·08 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 24·30-30·30 million) new cases of TBI and 0·93 million (0·78-1·16 million) new cases of SCI, with age-standardised incidence rates of 369 (331-412) per 100 000 population for TBI and 13 (11-16) per 100 000 for SCI. In 2016, the number of prevalent cases of TBI was 55·50 million (53·40-57·62 million) and of SCI was 27·04 million (24·98-30·15 million). From 1990 to 2016, the age-standardised prevalence of TBI increased by 8·4% (95% UI 7·7 to 9·2), whereas that of SCI did not change significantly (-0·2% [-2·1 to 2·7]). Age-standardised incidence rates increased by 3·6% (1·8 to 5·5) for TBI, but did not change significantly for SCI (-3·6% [-7·4 to 4·0]). TBI caused 8·1 million (95% UI 6·0-10·4 million) YLDs and SCI caused 9·5 million (6·7-12·4 million) YLDs in 2016, corresponding to age-standardised rates of 111 (82-141) per 100 000 for TBI and 130 (90-170) per 100 000 for SCI. Falls and road injuries were the leading causes of new cases of TBI and SCI in most regions. INTERPRETATION: TBI and SCI constitute a considerable portion of the global injury burden and are caused primarily by falls and road injuries. The increase in incidence of TBI over time might continue in view of increases in population density, population ageing, and increasing use of motor vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles. The number of individuals living with SCI is expected to increase in view of population growth, which is concerning because of the specialised care that people with SCI can require. Our study was limited by data sparsity in some regions, and it will be important to invest greater resources in collection of data for TBI and SCI to improve the accuracy of future assessments

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future.Peer reviewe

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future